I'm not excusing anything, but it's easy to condemn someone without knowing the circumstances. I've certainly done things I'm not proud of. I wonder if Brad Henderson can shed any light on this from the other end (RG).

Meanwhile, I just received an email from Hank, which follows.

Matt Field

--------------

A Special Message From Hank Lee:

Greetings from me, Hank Lee.

I suspect that by now you have read the reports of the governments charges against me. I have agreed to plead guilty to these charges. Although the charges allege misuse of a customers credit card, I am writing to assure you that Hank Lees Magic Factory has since adopted procedures to insure the safety and privacy of our customers information.

I was wrong in every way, and now I will face the consequences. I could not possibly be more sorry for my behavior.

My actions have deeply impacted my family. And, I know that they have impacted you, our customers and friends. While we have tried to build a base of trust over the last 37 years, it has been seriously damaged, and must now be rebuilt.

If there is a brighter side, Hank Lees Magic Factory is not just about me. It is about our long time employees who are here every day and could not be more honest, forthright and knowledgeable. These people can be trusted, 100%. They have been with Hank Lees for more than 20 years each and have impeccable records, both in life and in the workplace.

In the past day, I have received many emails and notes. Most are from people hoping that the present situation resolves itself quickly and wishing me the best in this difficult time. Some are from people who do not exactly wish me well. This is to be expected. I appreciate all correspondence.

This is what I can tell you right now. Hank Lees Magic Factory is not in danger of closing. We will continue to accept your orders, process them and ship them as always. I hope that you will continue to place orders with the Magic Factory, and allow me to rebuild your trust in us.

It can be simultaneously sad news and an entirely welcome legal resolution of the sad circumstances. Of course many will opt to demonstrate just how opposed they are to crime and criminals by attesting to feeling no sadness; point taken; we get it. But more than one adjective attaches to most events of any complexity.

I looked at several instances of fraud, including misappropriation of assets (stealing) and financial statement fraud (lying), as part of my undergraduate and graduate level courses in auditing.

It's a shame, because in a lot of otherwise honest people, the combination of pressure, opportunity, and rationalization can be overwhelming and lead to lots of bad decisions. The other thing you see so often is that once you get started it's so hard to stop.

It's also sad because I'm sure he has family members that rely on him, kids, grandkids, etc. It's tough.

My dad often said and I have said before "Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time." Punishment is just and the right thing to do and it's good that he has been stopped....that doesn't make it less sad for everyone.

As mentioned earlier, the Hank of the 70's was a great guy. He worked out of a house and Max was there a lot. The big move to downtown Boston and a great shop. He would tell you what you might be interested in and warn you about junk. As the shop and mail order got bigger things changed.

There is a German word that fits some of the "shoes" tied to the bandwagon's bumper: Schadenfreude. The news and current evidence is indeed sad, but the evidence is still incomplete. As the buzz is reduced to the whir of mosquito's wings, if we are still chattering a week from now, perhaps we will know more and more about less and less? Rest assured that recompense will rule the day. Justice will serve some...more or less. The guilty of course will pay...and THAT payment will probably suffice. Meanwhile, the landscape of magic continues to change and we too feel ourselves changing. As Kurt Vonnegut used to say, "So it goes..."

Since Hank/Harry has stated his intention to continue doing business in the magic community, and he has signed a legal document acknowledging the facts of the case, it is entirely appropriate for those who he would have as customers to discuss this today and next week.

Last edited by Bob Cunningham on March 31st, 2012, 6:10 pm, edited 0 times in total.
Reason:Spelling

I had a dispute with Hank involving a fraudulent credit card charge at the very time he was being grilled by the Feds. I feel sorry for his family and his employees, but not for him. He needed to be stopped.

What is surprising is that Paypal and credit card companies have not revoked his privilege to charge credit cards after $560,000 in fraudulent credit card transactions. How he can continue his business is quite surprising. Somebody who steals half a million (and potentially more if the accounts of other defrauded customers are true, which given what we know seems completely plausible) has no right to continue his business. I really hope the magic community is strong enough to hold ranks and just not buy there anymore.

I will always have very fond memories of my first visit to Lank Lee's as a teenager when he was in the tiny walk up on Lincoln St.

I walked in as he and Phil Goldstein were in the process of editing the Magic Factory's first catalog.

At last there was a real magic shop in Boston and not a joke shop with tricks.

Many years later when they were in the larger shop down the street I visited with my niece who at 9 or ten decided she wanted to learn magic. The staff worked patiently as she tried many different thumb tips till we found one that fit.

To me this is tragic. Tragic in that we in the magic community have lost yet another resource. From what I have been reading this is a resource that had been gone for some time.

I can not imagine what may of happened. While the Hank I knew was a bit of a hustler I would never have thought he was capable of this. I can only imagine that something must have happened to bring him to this.

"At what cost - for a cheaper price? I don't have to detail the situation. My guess is you're already aware of it... And as unfortunate as "it" is, it's not something we want to blitz too much... That stated, it should be mentioned - that "trust" is a benefit worth a lot... It's not an add on or an option when you check out - (like selecting insurance), but make no mistake it has tremendous value.

We at SME never wanted to be the biggest, never wanted to be a carnival sideshow selling anything and everything at close to the our cost. We want to sell quality magic at a fair price, using the profits (which I assure you are not what you think and sometimes not) to re-invest in keeping our business alive...

Our goal is to focus on those clients, that value integrity and quality (with respect to both products and services). We can't be all things to all people. At the end of the day, we hope that people who share similar value's will "vote" with their dollars, euro's and pounds, and Yen by choosing Stevens Magic Emporium - knowing you can buy with confidence. Mark Stevens - SME"

the Larry wrote:And by another take on human behavior and risk assessment: once a crook always a crook.

And once a speeder, always a speeder... once a cheater, always a cheater... once a bed wetter, always a bed wetter... once a jerk, always a jerk - right??!?! Everyone screws up. Some just do a better job of it.

I spoke to RG in person today in Atlanta while at the Gathering for Gardner. As I was told, at multiple steps along the timeline of the legal proceedings RG apparently offered to settle the whole matter for pennies on the dollar. It is utterly incomprehensible to me why this went all the way to federal court with so many other less expensive and less personally damaging options on the table. (I can only speculate that HL thought he could hide behind fraudulent documentation and get away with it. Perhaps there are other reasons, I don't know. That is purely my speculation.)

At any rate, RG is pleased at least to have the matter resolved satisfactorily. He and his lovely wife are expecting the birth of their child on July 1. They are a delightful couple.

HL didn't screw up 'once'. He screwed up hundreds of times over the course of years. Can people change and get their act together? Yes, but it happens very seldom after such a behavior has been established over that amount of time and magnitude. In business when you loose your integrity it is gone. It will never come back, no matter what you do or say, because there is always that lingering feeling that no matter what is done or said, one day he is bound to do it again.

All - As "RG's" physical address is included on page 5 of the Stipulated Statement of Facts linked above, masking his name makes about as much sense as hiding the word s***t from folks who have no idea what a shift is. His identity is no secret.

I feel sorry for the family and staff. The situation is tragic all round. I just can't see how he intends to continue the business in its current form. Besides the PR fall out ( would you trust your payment details with them ? ) what bank would continue to offer them merchant account facilities ? Amex, Visa and Mastercard would be hard pressed to continue to offer them the ability to process cc transactions when you have admission of guilt of mass credit card fraud.

Without wishing to de-rail this thread... While in the process of trying to find out who RG was I came across the following video. In it he gives a tour of his house. Quite a cool place. The man seems like a really nice guy to boot.

I used to have the same self-righteous attitude toward those who broke the law until I became the IT Branch Manager for the KY Dept. of Corrections.

There are individuals who through one stupid act cause great pain to everyone around them. But they are tried, convicted and sentenced. They serve their time and are released. Their debt to society is paid according to the law.

Instead of this trial of public opinion, let the legal system do it's job.

Terry, I could agree with you if Hank Lee would have made two or three fraudulent credit card transactions of a few hundred dollars and if he would have admitted to them when asked by R.G. or at the latest when the investigators showed up on his doorstep.

However, Hank Lee has made hundreds of fraudulent charges over the course of several years in the amount of at least $560,000 and then like a hard boiled criminal he tried to obfuscate and hide his criminal actions for months when asked about them. Sorry, but I have no soft spot for such people in my heart.

As one of the most intense critics of Hank in this thread, let me say something positive about him.

Last night I revived an e-mail from Hank asking if I had personal issue with him and if so could he do something to address it. I have to say, I admire the hell out of that!!!

Confronting your critics and asking if you can "make amends" takes great personal courage.

This does not change my mind at all about doing business with Hank. He has a LONG, LONG way to go to earn back the trust he has squandered. And currently, I would rather let Charlie Sheen give me relationship advice than give my credit card to Hank. But I am impressed that he reached out!

Everything about Hank Lee at the Cafe seems to have magically disappeared.
Never did any business with him, too far away. Hard to see how he can make a comeback with pay pal and credit card companies having issues with the business.
Another brick and mortar biting the dust. Sad for the industry and his loyal customers.

The thing that is most surprising to me is that $560K (more, actually, when you add in legit business) for a magic shop didn't raise some red flags somewhere. It has been a lot of years since I worked in a magic shop, but that kind of cash flow would have been astronomical at the time.

Times are very tough for brick and mortar magic dealers, and ALL magic dealers. The desperation brought on my the possibility of economic catastrophe sometimes leads men to criminal acts, or suicide. If Hank Lee is guilty, then a little good old pity might be in order. There's a difference, albeit one not readily seen (and many would refuse to recognize) between stealing money to keep your business float and stealing money to buy sports cars, a fancy house, and drugs.

I do not know the details here, but I will give Hank Lee the benefit of the doubt and hope that he was doing this just to keep his business alive and pay his bills. If he is found guilty, or has already plead guilty, then he will face the punishment of the court. After that punishment he will have paid his debt to society and will be able to start anew. He also has a family, and they must be in our thoughts as well.

Richard Kaufman wrote:Times are very tough for brick and mortar magic dealers, and ALL magic dealers. The desperation brought on my the possibility of economic catastrophe sometimes leads men to criminal acts, or suicide. If Hank Lee is guilty, then a little good old pity might be in order. There's a difference, albeit one not readily seen (and many would refuse to recognize) between stealing money to keep your business float and stealing money to buy sports cars, a fancy house, and drugs.

I do not know the details here, but I will give Hank Lee the benefit of the doubt and hope that he was doing this just to keep his business alive and pay his bills. If he is found guilty, or has already plead guilty, then he will face the punishment of the court. After that punishment he will have paid his debt to society and will be able to start anew. He also has a family, and they must be in our thoughts as well.

That's easy to say, I guess, when you're not the one who got ripped off. Hank Lee has been doing stuff like this for a LONG time. (I got ripped off by him on my first (and last) order as a poor, 18-year-old college student -- and that was before he would have been feeling much pressure from online magic stores.) And I'm not alone:

Somehow I don't think he needed that half-a-million just to keep his head above water. If you do need to rip off your customers in order to keep your business afloat, then perhaps you have an untenable business plan. And if that's the case then he should have submitted a resume at Arby's like a decent human rather than steal from other hard-working people.